


Always a Constant

by FennecFoundaPencil



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Childhood Friends, Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, University, Volleyball, im so bad at tagging, kenma/lev for a second, kuroo is an idiot, kuroo/ random oc for a second, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26058061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FennecFoundaPencil/pseuds/FennecFoundaPencil
Summary: You never saw Kenma without Kuroo, but you could find Kuroo without Kenma. After years of being used to his best friend always waiting behind, always looking forward to being with him, Kuroo gets a harsh slap of reality.aka, Kenma becomes less codependent and Kuroo has to face his real feelings to get him to stay.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Other side pairings - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> More Kuroken content, more kuroken content.   
> Also hey guys lol whats up.

Kenma and Kuroo were a matched set. It wasn’t some joke, or club dynamic, it was a fact of life. Whether playing volleyball, completing classwork, or hanging out at home, they were always together. Kuroo’s excuse was Kenma couldn’t be let out of his sight let alone someone mistook him for a girl and snatched him right up. Kenma never bothered to give an excuse but did insist (as much as Kenma could insist) that Kuroo was wrong. 

Kuroo didn’t mind, he knew he was correct. The teen was confident in the fact their friendship would never sever, it was a very needed constant in his life after all. Or more so Kenma was a very needed constant in his life. The younger boy’s gentle presence was comforting, calming. Every now and then he’d get upset over something and brood, much like a cat pointedly stays away from their owner after they’ve stepped on their tail, but Kuroo didn’t mind. It was cute, in a little brother kinda way. Kuroo watched him catch receives from Kai, eyebrows drawn in silent concentration. The ball bounced off his forearms with a  _ pat,  _ Kenma’s relaxing in relief that he’d managed to time it correctly. Over the years Kuroo had come to learn every tick Kenma had, the meanings behind every small movement he made. Being so blank all the time made him hard to read for most, but Kuroo mused that was what made him fun. There was no challenge in being able to tell everything about a person at first glance. For example, shrimpy was trying to become known as a short volleyball player, an amazing ace despite his height. Kinda dumb, easily distracted, but also extremely determined when it came to what he liked. 

Kuroo glanced down at the bottle in his hands, deep in thought. They hung out a lot these days, shrimpy and Kenma. He wondered if Kenma considered the boy one of his best friends now, that’d be interesting. 

After practice the team flooded into their locker room to change, Kenma still lost in thought. He walked past Kuroo without a word, which wasn’t new, but still rude. Kuroo grinned mischievously and threw an arm around his friend, causing the boy to yelp and look up at him. 

“What’s going on in that brain of yours huh? Plans of world domination?” Kuroo mussed the younger’s hair, to which Kenma smacked away his hands. 

“Plays,”

“Plays? Anything new?”

Kenma shook his head. “Not yet,”

Kuroo gave a long winded sigh in response, slumping back. “Pick up the pace then, brain of ours,”

His friend just huffed, pulling away from him to get to his locker. Kuroo watched for a second longer, eyes drifting to the skin being revealed as Kenma lifted up and off his jersey. Kenma was so petite, yet toned. Unlike most guys on their team, his waist was more pinched, like a girls. His skin was also softer, Kuroo knew from all the times they’d brushed hands or roughhoused. Kuroo wanted to wrap his arms around the boy and-

Snapping fingers brought him out of his daze, Yamamoto giving him a strange look. Kuroo just waved it off with a laugh, pulling off his own uniform whilst on the way to his locker. Friends found friends attractive all the time, nothing strange about it. There were even psychology reports on how often looks played a part in who one befriended. Kuroo had read a decent amount of them, for no real reason. 

Kenma finished up before him and grabbed his backpack off their bench before walking out with Lev. Yamamoto was changing slower than usual. He kept sending sour looks Kuroo’s way, almost as if he were about to pounce on him. Kuroo tensed, taking more time than necessary locking up his belongings in the hope Yamamoto would just leave while he was doing so. Whatever the ace had to say couldn’t be very friendly. 

“Kuroo,”

The boy almost jumped, just barely keeping his cool as he turned around to face his friend. The dark shadow in Yamamoto’s eyes was enough to make Kuroo’s hair stand on edge. 

“Yeah?”

“I know you and our precious setter are close, but if I so much as see him  _ frown  _ because of you-”

“Wow, wow,” Kuroo held up his hands in defense, putting on an air of nonchalance. “I have no clue what you’re talking about here,” 

“He’s your junior, keep it in your pants pervert,”

Kuroo blinked, paling. “Yama-” Their ace just narrowed his eyes at him before leaving Kuroo alone in the locker rooms. 

_ Keep it in your pants.  _ The hell was he talking about? Kuroo had  _ never- _

Kuroo had never  _ purposefully  _ thought of Kenma in that way. Kenma was too, too,  _ innocent _ . It’d practically make him a pedophile. Yeah, Kuroo was just very protective of his best friend, nothing more. 

He slipped on and tied his shoes quickly before jogging outside. Kenma had waited behind for him as usual, impassive as always. Kuroo’s eyes lingered on his face, outlining the cat-like curve of his eyes. They were quite large for a boy, not that Kuroo minded. Kenma began walking, the two falling into a comfortable silence. The sky was just beginning to darken, a whole spectrum of colors painting over the clouds above them. Kenma seemed to still be thinking about something, kicking rocks here and there. 

“Kuroo,” He spoke up. “A girl gave me a note to give you this morning,”

Kuroo tilted his head, stopping. “Who?”

“Some first year,” Kenma stopped as well to reach into his backpack and pull out the note. The envelope it was encased in was a light pink and covered in heart stickers. Kuroo made a face at it. He didn’t remember becoming close with any of the first year girls. Kenma handed it to him then kept walking, obviously having little care for it. 

Running a thumb under the tapped down tab, Kuroo slipped open the envelope and pulled out the card inside. It was a confession letter, not the first he’d gotten either.

_ Dear Kuroo-Senpai, _

_ We haven’t really spoken much but I’ve seen many of your volleyball matches <333 I really like you, and was wondering if we could walk home tomorrow afternoon! If you’d like, of course. I’m a bit shy so I had Kenma-Senpai give you the letter, I hope you don’t mind xxxx.  _

  * _Takeda Akemi_



Kuroo folded up the letter and slipped it into his pocket, jogging to keep up with Kenma. He had to wipe glitter off on his pants after opening it, there being so much glued down that it’d stuck to his fingers. Takeda, where had he heard that name? He really couldn’t remember. 

“Oi! Kenma! Kenmaaaa! Wait up!”

Kenma faltered, turning to look back at him. He tilted his head, confusion growing the closer Kuroo got to him. 

“You have long legs, just keep up,”

“Don’t be mean pudding, you move fast when you’re upset,”

The teen stifled, “I’m not upset,”

“Yeah you are,”

“No I’m not,”

“You are,”

“Are not,”

“Are!”

“Are not,” 

“Kenmaaa, is someone jealous,” Kuroo teased. He threw his arm around Kenma, hugging the boy to his side. The setter made no move to pull away, just staring blankly up at him. 

“I have no interest in dating, Kuroo,”

“ _ Really?”  _ The older of the two continued, pulling the letter from his pocket and waving it in Kenma’s face. Kenma covered his nose, glaring at the glitter that came off it like it had personally offended him.

“I couldn’t care less about this month’s girlfriend,” He muttered from behind his hand. 

“Hey! You make it sound like I’m some player,”

Kenma didn’t respond to that, just dropping his hand and continuing to walk. His silence made Kuroo pout and put back his letter. Kenma never seemed to care about Kuroo’s escapades with girls. Now, Kuroo didn’t really try to make him, in fact he barely talked to Kenma about girls at all. He’d assumed a while ago that it wasn’t something Kenma cared about. Maybe he’d been wrong. 

“So...Kenma, this Takeda girl, was she cute?”

Kenma shrugged. “She was a girl,”

“Most girls are,”

“Funny,”

“Describe her to me,”

Kenma silenced, falling into thought. He was probably trying to come up with something notable about her, Kenma never was one to pay attention to people he didn’t care much for. It’d taken him a while to warm up to Lev, having sorted the teen into the ‘ _ annoying’  _ category within the first half hour of knowing him. That’d been troublesome for the team at the time, but they were good now, for the most part. 

“Long black hair, lighter eyes, short,” Kenma said the words slowly, like he was feeling them out on his tongue. 

Kuroo hummed. He did like long hair. “She sounds like my type,”

“Good, date her then,”

“Would that upset you?”

Kenma tightened his grip on his backpack straps, “No,”

“You’re lying, do you like her?  _ Ooooo,  _ Kenma thinks a girl is cute,”

“I don’t!”

Kuroo danced up to stand in front of Kenma. It was amusing to tease his friend about crushes, but there was also something off...a pit growing in his stomach. Kenma liking someone, that’d mean less time for them wouldn’t it? Relationships were a lot of work, a lot of time. What if it got in the way of volleyball! That was it, Kuroo would just have to date Takeda so Kenma wouldn’t get distracted. It was foolproof. She already liked him anyways. 

“You wouldn't mind if I dated her then?”

Kenma frowned, eyebrows knitting. “You forgot your backpack in the gym, dumbass,” The boy answered instead, completely ignoring the question. 

Kuroo blinked, spinning to check his back as Kenma walked around him to get home. Shit! He did! 

“Ah, ah,” Kuroo rolled back and forth on his heels, looking between the way they came and the way home. “Kenma will you come with me?”

“No,”

“Kenma!”

“I’d hurry, there might not be anyone to unlock the gym for you soon,”

Kuroo cursed under his breath, running back to the gym to get his school stuff. He had an essay due tomorrow, he couldn’t just leave his bag there. God, he could only imagine having to start it all over again, that’d be awful. He had a hard enough time in English as is. 

Kenma watched his friend leave, saying nothing. 

Luckily enough for Kuroo there was a janitor left doing his rounds locking up all the classrooms, he gave Kuroo a spare key to get into the gym and Kuroo was able to return home, backpack securely on his back. By the time he had made it home it was already fully dark out, the beautiful landscape of colors they’d seen earlier now long gone 

Kuroo dropped his backpack on his bed with a sigh, staring forlorn at the electronic clock sitting on his bedside table. He was going to be exhausted tomorrow if he tried to finish the essay now, but he had no other choice. Literature, meanings in literature. He could do this, he could totally do this. He knew all about literature, kinda. The teen pulled out the chair from his desk and sat down, setting up everything he needed to get to work. 

“You won’t accept it?” Kuro asked incredulously, “But-but it’s finished?”

Tamaki Sensei pulled off his glasses, massaging the bridge of his nose. “The assignment was ten pages, not eight,”

“This is ten!”

“The title and bibliography do not count Kuroo, add the last pages and turn it in tomorrow and just  _ maybe  _ I’ll still give you full points,” 

Kuroo sighed, taking back his papers. “Yes sir,” The teacher waved him away from his desk, Kuroo frowning on his way out of the classroom. He was lucky he had a good track record grade wise, god forbid the teacher not give him more time. His mother would lose it if her perfect straight A son brought home low marks. Standing by the door was a girl that came to about his shoulders, long black hair kissing the small of her back. He’d just about ran into her, despite this, she smiled wide at him, waving cheerfully. Takeda, his mind supplied, the girl who wrote that confession letter Kenma gave him. 

“Ready to walk?” Takeda asked, rolling back and forth on her heels. Little beads and charms had been braided into her hair and clinked against each other when it swayed, it was cute. Kuroo stood straighter, grinning. 

“Yeah, I am, so you like volleyball huh?”

She lit up at that, nodding eagerly. “I don’t play myself but I’m a total otaku for it, sorry if the letter came off as creepy…”

“I didn’t mind it, it’s kinda cute you watch all my games,”

She blushed, glancing down at her shoes before meeting his gaze. “Really?”

Kuroo nodded, “Yeah, really, now c’mon, you gotta show me the way to your place,” 

“Alright! Off we go!” She did this dramatic imitation of the beginning of a march that made Kuroo scoff. He could see why Kenma liked her, he honestly wouldn’t mind having something to take up his free time for the remainder of his senior year. Hopefully Kenma wouldn’t get too silently pissed off about it. He tended to get sorta distant anytime Kuroo started seeing someone new. The teen shrugged that thought off, adjusting his backpack before walking beside Takeda. She was a talker, that was for sure. Kuroo nodded along to let her know he was listening, commenting here and there on what she said. He wasn’t very used to being the listener in a relationship, but he felt like he could get past it. Kenma would always be there if he needed someone to ramble to about chemistry or volleyball or whatever else was on his mind at the moment. He had nothing to worry about. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this earlier in the day cause I'm going kayaking~ and will probs forget later.

Graduation came too fast, accompanied by the inevitable end to Kuroo’s relationship with Takeda. She understood, it was hard to date with one in college and the other in high school. Honestly he was glad she didn’t try to push for it, it’d be stressful to have to genuinely break up with her. He had wished her well, ignoring the puffiness he could she to her eyes in order to keep himself from saying anything stupid. Kenma stood awkwardly in front of him now, the last to wish him well before Kuroo left for the graduates only after-party. The younger boy wasn’t meeting his eyes, arms crossed. He was upset, he was going to miss him, Kuroo could already tell. He’d had the same expression on his face when Kuroo graduated junior high before him. 

“Hey, Kenma, promise me you won’t quit volleyball?”

Kenma huffed, shrugging stiffly. “I won’t,”

“Good boy,”

“Shut up,”

Kuroo laughed and wrapped his arms around Kenma, pulling him into a hug. The teen tucked his face into Kuroo’s shoulder, sniffling. “Don’t cry too hard pudding, I’ll still be here in Tokyo,”

“You didn’t take the offer to go to Kubota?”

“And live all the way in Osaka? No way,” A small smile graced Kenma’s face as Kuroo ruffled his hair, replacing the frown from earlier. He seemed more content now knowing Kuroo wasn’t really going anywhere. “You’re free to visit my dorm anytime you’d like, as of now, I have no roommates,”

Kenma nodded. “I will,”

“Good,” 

“Kuroo hurry up!” Yaku called, Kai and him already piling into a car with a few other graduating third years. 

“Coming!” Kuroo gave Kenma’s head one last pat before leaving for the car. He swore the feeling of the boy’s hair under his fingers lingered, keeping his mood lifted the rest of the night. 

Kenma hesitated to leave where he stood just yet, chest constricting of the familiar sight of Kuroo’s back disappearing from view. He’d been left behind again, like clockwork it happened every few years. That just came with the territory of being best friends with an upperclassman...No, it wasn’t just in classes. Kuroo was always ahead of him, he was better at being social than Kenma, more mature...he was...out of Kenma’s league by leaps and bounds. The boy took a few steps backward, then spun around fully, hands coming to frantically wipe away the water already building in his eyes. Idiot Kuroo. Stupid idiot Kuroo. 

University was nothing like Kuroo imagined. He wasn’t instantly flanked by hot cheerleaders, or initiated into a frat house. Rather he was drowning in homework within the first few weeks and getting absolutely no where in practice. His dorm was subpar, along with the food. He found himself missing his team more than he even anticipated. It wasn’t like Kuroo was the only first year on his volleyball team, there were two others, Oikawa and Takeru. Oikawa was the very definition of obnoxious, but Takeru was nice. Nice until he made it into being a regular while Oikawa and Kuroo were still benchwarmers. 

“Good liberos are hard to come by! It’s nothing personal,” 

Oikawa and Kuroo exchanged a glance.  _ Sure.  _ It was easy to say neither of them were exactly happy with their positions. Kuroo missed being the ringleader, he also missed not having any upperclassmen to be intimidated by. Challenges were fun, walls were not. 

“This is so boring, what’s the point in practicing if we don’t get to play?” Oikawa complained, setting for Kuroo. Kuroo felt his palm slap against the volleyball, relishing in the familiar burn of it. 

“To get better Oikawa,”

“No shit,”

Kuroo stretched his arms then clapped “One more,” To which Oikawa just rolled his eyes and got into position to set another for him. 

They stuck together most of their practices, Kuroo wasn’t used to being on such a large team, and Oikawa just didn’t enjoy  _ not  _ being praised for everything he did. They surprisingly enough were good fits for each other. 

Weeks turned into months and months into seasons, before long Kuroo was completely caught up in his new life, spending every other weekend at one of his team’s games despite not getting to play. It almost jump-scared him, getting a call from someone not on his team. Kuroo lifted the phone to his face and grinned the moment he registered who it was. The teen leapt onto his bed much like a junior high girl would and kicked his legs in the air. He’d been so caught up in school and practice. he’d barely registered the thought that he should be calling his old teammates more often. 

“Kenma!”

“Kuro,”

“I’ve missed you so much, why haven’t you called?”

Kenma was silent, probably thinking. “I didn’t want to bother you,”

“You could never bother me,” Kuroo sat up, still hyper. “I’m playing a pseudo match against another big school tomorrow, any advice?”

“Don’t lose,”

Very inspiring as always, that was Kenma for ya. The setter listened to him quietly as Kuroo went off about his classes and volleyball practice, he was thrilled to get to talk to his best friend again after not hearing from him for so long. Kenma’s voice was so nice, he could be one of those asmrist on youtube if he wanted to be. Speaking of which, Kenma had voice before he liked watching YouTube, Kenma becoming a Youtuber would be an  _ amazing  _ idea. 

“So what about you pudding? How has life been treatin’ ya?,”

Kuroo could hear Kenma shuffling around on the other end, probably getting comfortable in his bed. “Same as always, we got new teammates,”

“Are they good?”

“They’re okay,” There was more shuffling, then the familiar noise of Kenma fidgeting with a toy of some kind. “I was uh, I wanted some advice actually,”

Kuroo rolled his shoulders. Ah yes, Kenma wanted advice from his cooler older friend. It was only expected. 

“I’m going to get...smoothies, I don’t know what to wear,”

“Smoothies? With who?”

“Lev,”

“You two are getting along now? That’s great!” A big grin slid over Kuroo’s face. “I’m-“ 

“We’re going on a date,”

Kuroo felt his blood go cold and instantly his grin fell. A date? 

“Kuro?”

He’d been quiet for too long. 

“Oho ho, a date! Wow Kenma, so you wanna know what to wear?”

“Yeah,”

“Uh,” Kuroo scratched his head, thinking back to outfits he’d seen Kenma in before. He wore a lot of looser, baggy clothing, being insecure and all. Something he’d be comfortable in and still look good…”Skinny jeans and that ‘ _ blood runs from the heart to the brain,’  _ sweater,” 

He could see the face Kenma was making in his head. The scrunched nose, slightly drawn eyes. Kenma wasn’t a fan of the oversized sweater Kuroo had gotten him but the university student thought he looked adorable. Anything Kenma just about drowned in made him cute, and with jeans that showed off his legs...ah, fuck, Kenma was talking, right. Date, Kenma was going on a date. 

“The one you got me so we could match?”

“Yeah! It’s cool right?”

He didn’t get a response. Asshole, it  _ was _ cool. 

“When are you going?”

“Tonight,” He could hear Kenma get up, most likely to change. Kuroo tried really hard to stop imaging what his friend looked like at that point. “It shouldn’t be more than an hour or so,”

“Great, great, good luck pudding,” 

“Thanks Kuroo, I’ll…” Kenma was quiet, the plastic clicks from his fidget toy stalling. “Call you afterwards,” 

“You better, if you don’t call me by ten I will assume you’re having sex, which by the way, if you do-“

The loud jarring beep of their phone call being ended resounded in Kuroo’s ear, making him laugh. He dropped his phone into his lap and dropped back onto his bed, sighing. He felt jittery, but not in a good way. He just hoped he hadn’t sounded too forced over the phone. He was overthinking it really, even if Kenma was going on a date with the guy now, there was no given he’d go on another. Kenma wasn’t one to date, and he was far from one to do anything sexual. It’d be fine, Kuroo shouldn’t have any worries about his best friend being snatched from him. 

  
  


The next day at practice Kuroo was in more than a sour mood. Images of Lev putting his hands on Kenma,  _ kissing  _ Kenma wouldn’t stop flooding his mind. He’d barely gotten a blink of sleep after ten came and gone and he’d gotten no call. It’d been a joke but Kenma was awful at reading jokes and he should have called. Did he really lose his virginity to Lev?  _ Lev?  _ What was so great about Lev? Sure Kuroo wasn’t perfect either but he was better than some Russian underclassman.  _ Lev.  _ Fucking  _ Lev.  _ Across the net Oikawa practically squealed when he was almost slapped in the face with Kuroo’s serve. He sent a deathly glare the spiker’s way, crossing his arms with a dramatic hip tilt. 

“What the hell is your problem?” Oikawa barked. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“I’m trying to serve,”

“You almost took my head off!”

“Then dodge better,” Kuroo grumbled, lining up a ball to go for another shot. A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. The boy looked back and groaned, shaking Takeru off. 

“I don’t wanna hear it,”

The libero lifted his hands in a surrender. “I was just going to suggest you take a small break,”

“Don’t want to,”

“Takeru! Takeru! Switch with me!” Oikawa called, skipping over to them. He pointed to where he’d been standing earlier. “I’m not built to receive these kinds of violent serves, I’m fragile,”

“Fragile my ass,” Kuroo retorted, just opting to attack the empty gym floor instead. The volleyball bounced off the floor with a satisfying slap and Takeru whistled at the sound. 

“Man you are  _ pissed,” _

“Kindly fuck off,”

“Aw c’mon Kuroo, tell us what happened,” Oikawa slid up behind Kuroo, wrapping his arms around him. At first Kuroo resisted, then he sighed. He didn’t really have that good of an excuse for how he was acting. There was no good way to say,  _ I’m mad my best friend could like someone more than me.  _

“A girl I know back in my highschool went on a date yesterday,”

Takeru and Oikawa exchanged a glance. 

“And that upsets you?” Takeru asked, a slow smile climbing his cheeks. “Do you like her?”

“I don’t think so,” Kuroo picked up another ball, shooing them off so he could jog back, then forward, and launch it over the net. 

“How would you feel if she started dating this guy?”

Kuroo made a face. Bad, he’d feel bad. Kuroo was supposed to be Kenma’s number one, not Lev. He didn’t have anything against Lev but it was him and Kenma against the world, that couldn’t change.

“How bout this,” Oikawa poked his shoulder. “Ever had a wet dream about her?”

Kuroo sputtered, face immediately turning beet red. “No! Maybe! Maybe once! That’s totally normal!”

“ _ Sure,”  _ Oikawa dragged. “You’re meaning to tell me you don’t want her dating anybody, and have dreams about sleeping with her, but she’s, ‘ _ just a friend?’”  _

He huffed in response to that. It sounded bad when he used the pronoun she, but he was sure if they knew it was a guy it’d be different. 

_ “You’re meaning to tell me you don’t want him dating anybody, and have dreams about sleeping with him; but he’s, ‘just a friend?’”  _

Okay maybe it was still bad. Takeru reassuringly pat his shoulder. .

“How long have you known her?”

“Since third grade,”

“How old is she now?”

“She’s a third year in highschool,”

Oikawa clicked his tongue and shook his head. “It’s not good to be a cradle snatcher,” 

Kuroo felt his hackles rise. “It’s only a year difference!”

“The maturity gap between a high school student and an university student is quite large Kuroo,” Oikawa let out a long winded sigh. “I’m so disappointed in you,”

“Ignore him,” Takeru insisted. “You two must be close if you’ve known her so long, just tell her how you feel,”

“And risk our friendship? No way, she’s- she’s shy and hates dating-”

“Can’t hate it that much if she went on one last night,”

Ah yes, thank you Oikawa for the reminder. Kenma, his,  _ I hate being touched _ , best friend, went on a date _.  _ A real date. It was so frustrating and he couldn’t even pin why. Was it older brother instincts? He’d always been protective. Yeah, that  _ had  _ to be it. He’d tell his teammates as much but he could already hear Oikawa’s jokes about Kuroo having a brother complex so he held back. 

“It’s better to communicate,” Takeru added. “Makes for healthier friendships,”

Kuroo rolled his eyes, he knew that. There was though, a difference between telling your friend you don’t like something they said to you and telling them you don’t like the idea of anyone dating them ever. 

“Or you could get drunk!” Oikawa piped in, large grin on his face. “How about it?” 

Getting drunk, that sounded good. Really good actually. 

“Yeah, let's do that,” 

“We have a match in just an hour, so you better not-“ 

“Relax Takeru, we’ll do it after,”

“Number 13, come here,” Their coach called. Kuroo looked up at his number being said and waved to his friends before jogging over. The old man didn’t look up from his papers, teeth gnawing on his lip. Unlike back in highschool their coach didn’t y’all friendly with the players much, it was hard to relax around him. “I want you to play in the match for the first half,”

Kuroo lit up. “Really?”

“I believe the experience would do you good, so,” He pointed over to another group of his teammates practicing, the regulars. “Go practice with them until the game, you need to be able to match them by the time it starts,”

“Yes sir,” Kuroo saluted.

Coach waved him off. “Yeah yeah, go,” 

Twenty texts. Kenma counted, staring at the lit screen of his smartphone. Another blue line joined the wall of messages. Twenty-one. None from Kuroo. It was a saturday, he’d be at morning practice until...one? It was past one. Kenma wanted to know how his match went. 

**Idiot Lev** Kenma! Kenma! He looks just like you!

_ -image attached of pouting kitten- _

Kenma frowned and felt his cheeks, skin warming under the touch. 

**Me** does not, stupid 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kuroken is endgame btw so like, yeah.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna hug kenma really bad, not cause of the fic, just in general.


End file.
